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MaisyS's avatar

Do I mention all of this in my MUN position paper?

Asked by MaisyS (734points) December 27th, 2019

So I’m attending my first MUN on 10th January. But I’m also travelling and will return home on the 8th of January, which means that in order to get even a marginally decent bit of research done, I have to start now and get as much work in as I can before my flight on the 31st of December (this Tuesday).
I’m wholly inexperienced and very very nervous. I need to get my position paper done, and some of my friends who have been to a few Model United Nations before told me to use the study guide provided by the university hosting the event. Our topic is “Combating Global Oppression of Minority Groups” and I represent the country Burkina Faso. I understand that the position paper must be written from my country’s point of view. What I’m confused about is, the study guide covers four separate issues, the oppression of the Uyghurs, the Kazakhs, the Kurds, and LGBTQ rights. Do I include all of these in the position paper?
The paper is only supposed to be around a page long and is described as “a document describing a topic, your country’s position, and possible solutions.” But the study guide, under one main topic, talks of four sub-topics. Do I include these in the position paper or just talk of human rights and oppression in general and Burkina Faso’s stance concerning it? Or do I get into the details and talk of Burkina Faso’s stance on each of these four problems specifically?

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6 Answers

janbb's avatar

I think we’d have to see the study guide to give you a reasonable answer. Those might just be examples of oppressed groups because I don’t know that all of those would be at issue in Burkina Faso. Since Burkina Faso is a country in West Africa, they don’t necessarily have issues with the Uyghurs or the Kazakhs.

There was a big massacre there right before Christmas. If you do some research about the underlying issues that brought it on, you may have a way to write about their position on miniority oppression.

These are just some suggestions. I’ve never prepared for a MUN myself.

MaisyS's avatar

That’s exactly what I’m confused about. Burkina Faso really has no connection to these issues, but since it is a member of the Human Rights Council I have to have some opinion on it.

janbb's avatar

Well, as I suggested, do some reading about the country. What religion predominates? How conservative are they? What type of government do they have? If they are largely Christian, they would probably be against persecution of the Kurds or the Uyghers.

janbb's avatar

Here’s a link to a good article on Burkina Faso and religious persecution there. You’ll have to draw your own interpretation.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/12/deadly-attack-burkina-faso-global-condemnation-grows-191226051341079.html

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MaisyS's avatar

Thank you so much :)

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